


Leftovers

by stagemanager



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Family, Gen, Headcanon, Humor, Sonic World Adventure | Sonic Unleashed, Wolf Instincts, no beta we're going into this with ZERO rings boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stagemanager/pseuds/stagemanager
Summary: Really, he should have expected this. There was no way that possessing a fragment of the god of darkness and destruction wasn’t going to leave some permanent side-effects. Even if they are pretty mild.
Relationships: Amy Rose/Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 15
Kudos: 134





	1. Observations

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after Sonic Unleashed / Sonic World Adventure

As it turns out, traveling to piece together a planet-sized jigsaw puzzle was a lot more tiring and stressful than they initially thought. While the group had done a decent job at staying positive, it didn’t change the fact that racing around the globe almost nonstop was going to be a difficult task. As usual, Sonic had persevered through the exhaustion without a word, and as usual, it was Tails who had to force the hedgehog to actually sleep from time to time. There had been more than one occasion in which the fox had threatened to tranquilize his own brother if he didn’t take a nap for once in his life. Each time, Sonic would put his hands up and relent with a sheepish grin. 

In the days since defeating Dark Gaia, Tails invited—correction, _pressured_ —Sonic back to his workshop to relax. Thankfully, the hedgehog had enough sense in this head to accept the not-invitation. After celebrating at Amy’s ‘Coming Home Party’, the duo departed to the Mystic Ruins for some much needed rest.

It’s two days into the arrangement that Tails sees something. 

The fox has been letting Sonic sleep in each morning, leaving the younger of the two to make breakfast. He’s nearly done with the pancake batter when a recent memory—a _friend_ —comes to mind and he adds in a cup of chocolate chips. Giving the mixture one final stir, he scoops out a portion into the pan. 

About halfway through the batter, he hears the patter of footsteps behind him. Spinning around, he sees the planet’s savior covering a yawn and plopping down into a chair at the table.

“G’Morning,” Sonic greets warmly. One of his hands is combing absentmindedly through his quills, smoothing down a couple of flyaways, while the other drums on the table. The green gem on his bracelet sparkles under the light.

Tails responds with a smile. “Good morning. Pancakes are almost ready. If you’d mind getting some—”.

The fox’s words are cut off by a sudden gust of wind. Blinking, Tails sees that the table is now fully furnished with plates, cups, and silverware. 

“Thanks,” the gadgeteer states, not even fazed. Just normal Sonic things. He turns back to the stove and flips the pancake over.

The hedgehog flashes a grin. “No problem. Have you turned on the espresso machine yet?” 

“ _No,_ ” his brother replies quickly, not looking up from the pan. 

“Aw, c’mon!” 

“Sonic, you don’t even typically drink coffee and you’ve had enough in the last week than you should in an entire year. You don’t need caffeine considering how hyper you are.”

Sonic rolls his eyes, throwing his hands up. “Buzzkill.”

“Pincushion.”

“Whatever.”

The kitchen shifts into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, as Tails finishes cooking the last of the pancakes. Sonic slices up some fresh fruit for their breakfast, placing it into a bowl. His younger brother brings the plate of buttermilk and chocolate goodness over to the table.

Almost immediately, Sonic snatches several pancakes and stacks them onto his plate. “Chocolate chip pancakes?” He asks, light surprise coloring his tone.

Tails gives him a nod as he assembles his own stack of pancakes. “Yeah. I thought they’d be appropriate.”

Sonic stares at the food for a moment. “Cool,” he comments, after a beat. He grabs a brown bottle and pours some maple syrup onto his stack of pancakes before handing the container to his brother. Tails slices a sliver of butter and places it on top of his buttermilk tower before covering it in syrup.

Grabbing his fork and knife, Sonic cuts a generous portion of his food, revealing melting chocolate chips, fluffy golden pancakes, and glistening amber syrup. The hedgehog pauses, examining the display.

“ _Wow_ , Tails, these look amazing,” he compliments, sincerity coloring his tone.

His little brother blushes. “Thank you,” the child answers, flattered. The teenager offers him a thumbs up before jabbing his fork into his recently cut portion. As the speedster lifts the piece to his open mouth, Tails notices something that _isn’t_ a normal Sonic thing.

Sonic’s canines have always been a little more prominent compared to his other teeth, but they seem… _bigger_ than usual. Sharper. While they aren’t shockingly larger, there is still enough of a difference to make the perceptive fox pause. 

There must be a strange look on his face because Sonic suddenly stops eating and tilts his head quizzically at him. 

“ _Uh… You okay there, Tails?_ You’re kinda staring at me weird.” 

The child in question jolts slightly. “ _Oh!_ Sorry! Guess I kinda zoned out there for a second.”

Sonic stares at him for the briefest of moments before returning to his food. Across the table, the fox’s namesakes swish with a hint of anxiety. 

Could it be possible that Sonic still has those nighty transformations? But he’s been fine for the past few nights, and nothing else has been off. Maybe it’s in remission or something?

As Sonic helps himself to some strawberries, Tails catches another glimpse of his sharper canines. They look almost like _fangs_. Small, not terrifying fangs, but fangs regardless. At the very least, they don’t seem to be visible unless his mouth is wide open and you’re looking from a certain angle.

The two-tailed fox decides that he’s going to do a hedgehog study this week.

* * *

As much as he loves hanging with Tails and getting eight hours of sleep for once, Sonic needs to move. After spending three days basically doing nothing at Tails’ Workshop, he’s starting to go a little stir-crazy. So on one beautiful morning, the Blue Blur hops out the window and just runs. He has no destination in mind, just the overwhelming desire to _go_. The feeling of the wind rushing by him—streaks of color blending together like a beautiful painting—is invigorating. The laugh that bubbles out of him is one of pure exhilaration and gratitude.

Sonic ends up running an entire lap around the planet. But he’s just so thrilled and excited that he goes back and does another. Ultimately, it is hunger that causes the hedgehog to cease his running. The world comes back into focus to reveal giant skyscrapers and paved highways. People weave in between honking cars, scurrying to their destinations.

“Station Square, huh?” He muses out loud. “Haven’t been here in a while.” 

At a much more casual pace this time, Sonic begins wandering through the city, taking in the sights and looking for something to eat. A lot has certainly changed since he was here last. He’s in the midst of studying a new, particularly tall and narrow high-rise when he hears rapid footsteps behind him.

“Amy?” He asks, as soon as he turns around. Sure enough, his self-professed girlfriend comes running up to him, two shopping bags hanging off her arms.

“Aw, you weren’t supposed to turn around before I hugged you!” Amy huffs, stopping in front of her hero. The annoyed expression on her face swiftly melts away into a joyful grin. “But it’s fine. I’m always happy to see you, Sonic!” Without missing a beat, she engulfs the other hedgehog into a bone-crushing embrace.

_“A-Amy!”_ Sonic gasps. _“I c-can’t… br-breathe!”_

“ _Oh!_ Sorry!” She apologizes, backing away slightly. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” the blue hedgehog replies, air rushing back into his lungs. He draws in a deep breath before returning his gaze to Amy. Normally, at this point, the blue hedgehog would flee the scene. It won’t be long before Amy gets one of her ideas again. While he doesn’t mind hanging out with her, she does have a tendency to be a little… _much._ He feels kind of terrible admitting this, but he really wanted this day to himself. Some time to just run and be alone for a while. He’s about to blast out of there—she’ll be _fine_ , she’s _always_ fine when he does this and he tries not to think about that too much—when a recent memory slams into his mind. 

_“That could be fun.”_

Oh, _that._

“Listen, Amy,” Sonic begins, rubbing his nose. Please don’t be mad. “Can we do the date thing another day? This isn’t really the best time.”

The girl blinks at him, her mint green eyes large and round. A ray of light catches her pink quills, accenting them with a soft halo.

Well, _that_ just made things a little more complicated. He was going to leave and now she just… The sun just… _Argh!_

“Um…” Sonic trails off, now very much puzzled. There’s warmth gathering on his face, and he forces his gaze away. He’s yelling at himself to run but for some unknown reason, his feet don’t move. Thoroughly perplexed and unsure of what else to do, the speedster returns his gaze back to Amy. To his surprise, there is an amused smile on her face.

“Did you really think I was going to just spring the date on you right now?” She inquires, a touch of playfulness in her voice.

Sonic has to bite back the first response that comes to his mind. “No,” he responds, hoping that she doesn’t hear that he’s said it as a question. There's this strange feeling dancing inside his chest, something light and fluttering and associated with pink that he is definitely NOT going to think about.

Amy giggles, a happy, sweet noise that reminds him of little bells. “Oh, Sonic, you’re so silly.” 

He isn’t sure how to respond to that statement at first. “Yes, well, I guess I’ll be leaving then.” The blue hedgehog eventually states, pivoting on his heels. As he goes to leave however, the shrill sound of a police siren echoes from down the street.

Immediately, Sonic freezes in place. Like water rushing from a broken dam, a single thought suddenly floods the hedgehog’s mind. The thought blocks all of his usual avenues of thinking, leaving him with one compelling urge. Without even realizing it, the speedster draws in a breath, filling his lungs. Raising his head, he opens his mouth and releases the first note of a low howl.

“Sonic?” A familiar voice shouts. As suddenly as it appeared, the fog disperses and the howl dies off. At once, Sonic becomes aware of a weight in one of his hands, and he blinks. Looking down, he sees Amy’s hand clutching his. 

At a speed befitting his name, Sonic flinches and wrestles away. His gaze instantly travels to the floor, a lovely shade of pink rapidly overtaking his muzzle. 

_“I-I, um, wow, uh, that was…”_ he fumbles, clearing his throat in an attempt to get rid of the lump that’s suddenly formed there. His refocused mind is buzzing with a million thoughts, namely _what the HECK was that!?_

Behind him, Amy begins to cross the distance, her mint eyes filled with concern. “Are you okay?” She asks softly, reaching towards him. Before she can reach him however, the hero’s head abruptly whips up and he turns to face her. 

_“NeverbeenbetterokayseeyoulaterAmy!”_ Sonic exclaims before zooming down the street. 

When the dust settles, Amy is still standing there and staring down the block. Blinking, she readjusts her shopping bags before continuing on her way. Time to give Tails a call, it seems.

* * *

He was really hoping that Dark Gaia’s defeat meant the end of all this. For a while, it truly seemed like everything—the planet, the Chaos Emeralds, _him_ —were back to normal. But _surprise_ , life likes to keep you on your toes. And it looks like he’s stuck with a couple of leftovers from a transformation that he thought was gone. And of course, because he’s so _lucky_ , the leftovers all seem to be instincts that only help him in looking as uncool as possible. Which means that he has to actively avoid giving in to any of them.

Never a dull moment for Sonic the Hedgehog. _Yay._

In the midst of all this, he contemplates asking Tails to see if he can’t find a permanent solution to all of this. But his stubborn sense of pride and sometimes annoying compassion for others force him to keep his mouth shut. There’s no reason to bother his brother about this. He just needs to pay more attention to his actions. 

_Wish you were here to give some answers here_ , he muses, twisting the bracelet on his wrist. But the gem simply sparkles as it always does.

For the next few days, Sonic manages to keep a close grip on his instincts. While he’s returned to his usual drifter lifestyle, he finds that he always returns to Tails’ Workshop after a while. Another new instinct of his, it seems. There’s this powerful, unsaid command in his mind that pressures him to check on the kit every so often, to make sure he’s safe and healthy. He finds that he doesn’t mind this particular instinct, unlike that other one that compels him to howl at police sirens. As a wolf, the howling is cool. But as a small, brightly-colored hedgehog? Not so much.

But as he discovers during one of his visits to the workshop, he’s got another new quirk that is so much more embarrassing.

Ever the considerate souls, Cream and her family invite Sonic and Tails to a lovely homemade meal to show their gratitude. Not ones to turn down a gift, the two world travelers hop in the Tornado-1 and zip off to the rabbits’ home.

Given the wonderful weather outside, Vanilla makes the suggestion that they have lunch out in the garden. The flowers are in full bloom, bright blossoms sending their fragrances through the air. A gentle breeze cools the land, and helps the perfume along. Gemerl and Vanilla carry out sandwiches and drinks, while Cream and Cheese bring plates of cookies and fruit. 

“Wow!” Tails exclaims, gaping at the food spread before them. “You didn’t have to do all this.”

“Nonsense,” Vanilla lightly dismisses. “It’s the least we can do, considering everything that the two of you have done for us.”

After the meal is finished and the table cleared, Cream and Cheese run back into the house. When they return, the duo are clutching two floral necklaces, woven from sweet-smelling daisies. 

“I made these for you!” The rabbit girl declares, face beaming. “Thank you so much for saving our planet!”

It’s impossible not to smile when confronted with Cream and Cheese’s boundless optimism and kindness. Sonic and Tails have enjoyed this entire afternoon, but their grins widen when they see the gifts. There is nothing but gratitude in the heroes’ voices when they speak. 

“You’re welcome,” Tails replies as Cheese drapes the daisy chain around his neck. The hovering chao gives a joyful chirp.

Sonic flashes one of his trademark smiles at the rabbit and her chao. “Just doing what I do best,” he answers warmly before leaning down to give the young rabbit better access. 

Cream is practically glowing as she reaches up to place the handmade necklace. As she arranges the flowers to sit nicely around Sonic’s neck, her hand accidentally brushes against his chin. 

In an instant, as if he’s been shocked by lightning, the hedgehog’s entire body shudders. His eyes close with pure bliss before abruptly snapping open.

At once, the rest of the group freezes. Five sets of eyes move to stare at the speedster, who is currently trying his absolute best to avoid eye contact. 

His younger brother is the first to speak. “What was—”.

_“I’m great!”_ Sonic quickly answers, voice cracking. “Not sure what _that_ was, I guess I’m just tired, huh? Hero work takes it out of you, y’know.” The hedgehog rambles, slicking his quills back.

“Sonic…”.

“It’s _nothing_ , Tails, don’t worry about it.” The speedster interjects, more certain this time. Tails simply sighs. Next to him, Gemerl lifts a hand, his pointer finger raised.

“I have deduced an explanation,” the gizoid announces in his usual clipped tone. 

This time, everyone’s eyes land on the robot. Sonic’s jade eyes widen before he zips directly in front of Gemerl, hands positioned in the time-out sign. 

“Glad you have an explanation, buddy, but maybe now’s not the time to share with the class.” The speedster swiftly offers, nervous energy creeping into his tone. “Why don’t we—”.

“The reaction appears to have been precipitated by Cream’s hands brushing against Sonic’s chin. The contact stimulated the release of serotonin, a hormone linked to feelings of happiness and satisfaction. While the concept of touch causing happiness is not unusual and in fact supported by several psychology studies, the physical reaction that Sonic had is atypical of the hedgehog species. Rather, it is more common in the Caninae subfamily, particularly in wolves and dogs. These species commonly enjoy being petted on their neck, chest, and abdomen by those that they perceive as trustworthy and friendly.”

Finished with his explanation, Gemerl lowers his hand. The soft whirl of the moving servo is the only sound as the group takes it all in. 

“Is that a satisfactory explanation?” The gizoid inquires, staring into the furious blush covering Sonic’s face. There’s an endless, pregnant silence as the hedgehog stands there—frozen with sheer embarrassment—before bolting in a flash of blue.

_“Well,”_ Vanilla begins, staring at the recently vacated spot in the garden. The boom of a broken sound barrier echoes in the distance. “That was certainly _interesting_.”

The two-tailed fox sighs again, dragging one of his hands across his face. They’re definitely having a talk about this later.

* * *

Tails is in the midst of performing his usual maintenance checks on the Tornado-1 when he feels the tell-tale breeze of his brother’s return. Setting his screwdriver aside, the fox heads upstairs into the living area. He finds the planet’s savior sitting on his bed, staring blankly into space. 

“Sonic?” The fox ventures, stepping into the bedroom. Instantly, Sonic’s head snaps up, a clearly forced grin plastered on his face. 

_“H-Hey, Tails,”_ the hedgehog stutters, ears hiked straight up. “What’s up?” 

Knowing him for as long and as close as he has, Tails has learned several oddities about the Fastest Thing Alive. Getting Sonic to reveal something personal—especially something that’s affecting him mentally—requires patience and tact. But sometimes, just being direct and honest are the best way to get through to him.

“I know,” Tails simply states, cerulean eyes staring straight at the hedgehog. 

Sonic’s grin falters slightly. “Know about what?” He asks, cautiously. 

“The wolf behaviors you’ve been doing.”

In one supersonic second, the hedgehog switches to defense. “Pssh, _what are you talking about, Tails?_ Dark Gaia took all of that stuff outta me, remember? That thing that happened today was just ‘cause I’m tired, that’s all.”

The fox’s gaze remains steady. “I’ve noticed some things for a week now. And Amy told me about the howling.”

That statement catches Sonic off guard. _“Oh,”_ he manages to say, jade eyes focused on the ground. Tails takes the silence as an opportunity to sit down on the bed. His older brother sighs deeply before speaking again.

“So do you have any ideas on how to fix this?” Sonic asks, ears slumped in resignation. He ventures a glance at the yellow fox, and his heart falls when he sees his expression. 

“As soon as I started observing some things, I ran some tests on some of your loose quills. I can check your blood, but I think it’ll be the same result. Whatever mutation is causing your new behaviors, it’s been integrated into your DNA. There aren’t any physical traces of Dark Gaia’s essence in your body.”

At the fox’s words, Sonic falls back on the bed, his hands covering his face. “So I’m stuck with it, then? There’s nothing you can do?”

Tails shakes his head. “I’m sorry,” he apologizes, sympathy in his tone. 

A silence falls over the two as the permanence of this sets in. The younger of the two looks down at the floor, guilt flashing across his face. Then the older one abruptly bolts upright and places a hand on Tails’ shoulder, causing the fox to gasp.

“Hey, cheer up! It’ll be okay!” Sonic says, smiling softly. The sincerity in his tone makes the child’s eyes widen in surprise and confusion.

“Wha-? I just told you that you’re going to have to live with this for the rest of your life! I should be the one cheering you up!”

“Yeah, but you tried to fix this and that’s what matters. Besides, this isn’t as bad as it could be. At least I’m physically fine.”

Tails glances away sharply. “Yeah, about that,” he begins, scratching nervously at the back of his head. His brother pulls his hand away. “Some of your teeth are little… _pointier_ than before. But not in a super obvious way!”

Sonic narrows his eyes at him. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“No, I’m afraid I’m not…”.

The speedster’s palm finds his face within less than a millisecond. “Anything else?” He groans from behind his fingers, tone oozing with annoyance. This time, the gadgeteer answers with a quick no. _“Fangs. Okay then.”_

“It could be w—!”

“I’m gonna ask you to _not_ finish that statement, Tails.” Sonic interrupts. He runs a hand through his quills and sits back up. “ _Alright_. So things are a little more different than I thought, but it’ll be fine. I can do this.”

Across the bed, Tails studies the hedgehog with a sideways look. Suddenly, a thought comes to the fox’s mind.

“Sonic, have you been repressing your instincts?”

The speedster’s eyes snap to the fox at once. “ _No,_ ” he asserts, a little too loudly and quickly. The child prodigy narrows his eyes. _“Maybe…”._

This time, it is Tails’ turn to let out a heavy sigh. _“Sonic…”._

“They’re _embarrassing_ , okay? There, I said it!”

“It isn’t healthy to be constantly repressing them. Maybe you can let them go a little when you’re relaxing with friends or something. Wolves are pack animals, after all, and that’s probably the best scenario. It probably won’t be as intense as it was today if you don’t keep them bottled up all the time. They’re a part of you now.”

Sonic plops back down onto the bed. “I don’t know, Tails,” he admits, after a beat. “I don’t know what Amy told you or what you’ve seen, but this is all so weird. You were there today. Half the time I don’t even _realize_ I’m doing something until after it happens. Eventually I’ll figure this out, but right now it’s just so confusing.”

Tails offers the hedgehog a smile. “You’ll get the hang of it. And for what it’s worth, I don’t think they’re weird.”

The hedgehog looks at his brother. “Thanks, Tails.” He smiles softly. Another silence, this one much less heavy, descends on the two for several moments. Then suddenly, a playful grin appears on Sonic's face. “Do you think Shadow’ll be upset that he’s moved down in the edginess department?”

Tails can’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that’s how it works, Sonic.”

“ _Wha...?_ Of course it is.”

“Whatever you say.”

* * *

Despite Eggman’s defeat, fragments of his robotic army still roamed the planet. While the disappearance of their creator meant that the machines were unorganized, they still had their primary objective to cause discord and destroy any blue hedgehogs that they came into contact with. 

Today’s mission was going to be a simple robot disposal between him and Tails. But as fate would have it, a certain red knucklehead happened to be in the area, and he had to join them of course. 

“Egg Fighter on your left!” Sonic calls out in the midst of smashing some Egg Launchers. With two satisfying clangs, the offending badnik is swiftly dispatched by two powerful punches.

“Anyone else?” Knuckles barks, looking skyward. Above him, Tails dodges the fire of two Aero Cannons before retaliating with two expertly aimed bombs. The twin blasts illuminate the fox in an orange glow as he descends to the ground.

“Just a few more Thunder Spinners and Egg Fighters. Looks like those fun ones with the electro-swords. Six o’clock.”

With a nod, the echidna both fists together before racing off to mow down the remaining enemies. Tails observes him for a moment before a voice draws his attention.

“Yo, Tails! Wanna trash all the flying cans in one go?” Sonic asks, holding one of his hands out. Tails grins mischievously before seizing the offered hand. In a swirl of blue and yellow, the fox spins like a top before throwing his brother skyward. Like a blue missile, the hedgehog cleanly cleaves through every one of the badniks, their destruction causing fireworks in the air. Uncurling, he lands gracefully on the ground and flashes one of his trademark grins.

“Thanks, Tails!” He exclaims, running up to the smiling gadgeteer. The sound of an explosion causes the duo to look behind them.

“Looks like Knuckles just took care of the last of the robots.” Tails comments. Sonic makes a vaguely disappointed sound as the echidna joins back up with them.

“Knux, you forgot to leave some for the rest of us!” He whines in mock sadness. The emerald guardian simply snorts. 

“Not my fault that you took so long destroying those weaker enemies.”

Immediately, Sonic’s expression turns offended. “Hey!” The speedster shouts, turning on the echidna. There's the smallest hint of a growl in his voice. Knuckles responds with a smug look.

“Somebody’s losing their touch.”

“You wanna go right now?”

“Maybe. It might be a nice breather after all those tin cans.”

“Why I oughta—!”

_“Stop it!”_ Tails interrupts, hands separating the two rivals. Sonic and Knuckles cease their bickering but not without throwing one, final glare at each other. Dropping his arms, the fox sighs. He’s the youngest of the three, and yet it sometimes feels like _he’s_ the adult here. 

Seeing the kit’s tired expression, Sonic glances over to the guardian. A wordless apology passes between the two, and the hedgehog smiles. Walking over to Tails, the speedster places a hand on his left shoulder. He’s about to say something when Knuckles suddenly shouts.

“Look out!” The echidna warns, forcibly pushing the Sonic and Tails out of the way of a volley of bullets. The two brothers land on the ground with a thud, the younger of the two letting out a yelp. In one swift movement, Knuckles surges forward and aims a spiked fist at a lone Mole Cannon. As the dust clears to reveal pieces of the destroyed robot, Sonic and Tails sit back up.

“Thanks,” the hedgehog says, sincerity in his voice. Knuckles nods.

“Are you two alright?” 

“I’m good,” Sonic answers. “Caught me a little by surprise there.” The hedgehog turns to his younger brother, still clutched in his arms. Instantly, his gaze catches on a small, bleeding wound on the kit’s right shoulder where a bullet must have grazed it. 

Black pupils narrow as instincts override any other lines of thinking. _Injured, the pup is injured, you have to stop the blood, there could be infection, he’s depending on you._

Unaware of the urge playing up within Sonic’s mind, Knuckles ambles over to the two brothers. Almost immediately, his face twists into an expression of pure confusion and he stops short. It isn’t like the echidna hasn’t seen animals do this before: he’s spent the overwhelming majority of his life alone on a remote island with exotic wildlife. But the idea of Mr. Certain-Displays-of-Physical-Affection-Freak-Me-Out doing it? And the fact that Tails is just sitting there, oddly okay with it?

“Tails?” Knuckles eventually manages, thrown completely for a loop. His violet eyes are locked on the baffling display, unable to look away. “Is this like some normal thing that I didn’t know about?”

At the sound of his name, the fox glances up wearing an uncomfortable expression. There's the smallest hint of disgust on his face. “Remember how I told you that Dark Gaia split apart into pieces when the planet split apart?”

The guardian of the Master Emerald tilts his head, recalling the story. He remembers the loud dressing-down he gave the speedster after learning that he was the cause of the planet’s shattering and the imbalance in chaos energy. “Yeah. But what does that have to do with this?”

“Well, one of those pieces got stuck inside Sonic, turning him into this kind of wolf creature every night. The transformation’s been cured, but certain aspects of it are still sticking around.”

At once, Knuckles’ eyes widen in understanding. “So the licking of wounds…?”

Tails grins sheepishly. “That’s a new one. But I’m trying to be supportive.”

Shortly after the fox finishes speaking, Sonic pulls away from the now clean wound. He swallows the blood reflexively after he determines the cleaning to be to his satisfaction. And then, with the force of a thousand armored military trucks, realization sets in.

Immediately, the hedgehog's entire muzzle turns red. _“Oh, geez, that, Tails, I…”_ he fumbles. His jade eyes widen when he realizes that he’s the subject of focus— _and that he’s still holding Tails!_ The first thought in his mind is to drop the child and run, but _something_ —why he has to visit the workshop, why he doesn't want to leave his friends and family—keeps him in place. He’s still horribly embarrassed though, and his instincts' hold is weak enough to let him release his grip on the kit and back away slightly. 

_“_ Chaos, I am _so_ sorry about that, _”_ Sonic apologizes, wishing that he could maybe forget about everything that just happened in the last five minutes. His eyes are pointedly avoiding the other two. 

The yellow fox scoots over to his brother, causing the hedgehog to flinch with surprise. Jade eyes look up to see a softly smiling face.

“You don’t need to apologize. Someone you care about got hurt and your instincts told you to take care of it. I should be thanking you for helping me!”

Sonic’s eyes flicker to the side. The blush has subsided somewhat from his face, but he still appears to be on edge. 

“For your first time doing that, you did a very thorough job.” A low voice comments. The speedster's head snaps up at once.

“Oh, Knuckles, you, uh, _saw all that?”_

The echidna nods. “Yeah. And while it was a little unexpected, I can’t say that I’m surprised. You’ve done some crazy things for Tails.”

Despite his uneasiness about this whole thing, the hedgehog can’t help but smile at the Knuckles' words. “Was that a compliment, o mighty emerald guardian?” He jabs, his tone teasing and light. Upon noticing the amused expression on the echidna’s face, Sonic’s grin widens. “Ha! It was! Write that down, Tails!”

Knuckles shakes his head. “Alright enough,” he declares, cutting off the fox and hedgehog’s laughter. “Keep talking and I might just test and see if you’ll play fetch, hedgehog.”

In an instant, Sonic bolts to his feet, eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t _dare_.” 

The guardian of the Master Emerald simply smirks back at him. “Would I?” He asks, before plucking a stick from a nearby bush. Instantly, Sonic’s ears perk straight up as the furious blush returns to his face.

“ _H-Hey_! You’ve made your point! Knuckles, _don’t you dare throw that thing!”_

As the two teenagers battle over possession of the stick, Tails sighs and gets to his feet. There’s a smile on his face. 

Just another normal day with Team Heroes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Well, this is new. Writing a game Sonic fanfiction? If you wanted to write something, you should have written something for Gemhog."
> 
> Ahem, well, yes.
> 
> In all seriousness, I'm in the process of doing something for my Gemhog AU. But I'm having terrible writer's block, and I feel like everything I've written for that has been pretty lackluster and not something I think is worth posting. I promise I'm working on it, it's just taking some time.
> 
> Anyways, instead of writing movie Sonic, my oh so smart brain decided to diversify and write game Sonic. Big contrast, I know. Sonic Unleashed is one of my favorite games ever, and well, I couldn't resist doing something based on it. It actually took me a while to find game Sonic's headspace: him and movie Sonic have several personality differences. Moviehog is younger and much more open, while gamehog is much better at concealing his emotions. It's actually really interesting to look at.
> 
> So this story explores the idea that Sonic has a couple traits left over from his werehog form. I tried to avoid getting into angst territory but it sneaks in there on occasion. Honestly, this fic is basically me seeing how embarrassed I can make the normally proud hedgehog and indulging my desire for fluffy Sonic. I was inspired by NettikGirl's story "Instinct" posted on FanFiction, as well as Sonic's original design where he had fangs.


	2. Repetition

Today is a beautiful day. Not a cloud above to hide the bright blue sky and warm, shining sun. The temperature is perfect, neither too hot nor too cold. It is the ideal day to go outdoors and have some fun. So of course, the Fastest Thing Alive is stuck inside the workshop, forced to simply imagine what he could be doing outside right now.

“For the last time, I’m _fine!”_ Sonic insists, pushing himself up. Before he can stand however, a hand pushes him back down. 

“No, you’re _not,_ ” Tails retorts, tone daring his older brother to _‘just try and see what happens’_. When the hedgehog attempts to escape again, the fox pins him to the chair with both tails. The wordless threat of _‘I have tranquilizers and inventions that you don’t even know about’_ is evident from his icy glare. Sonic shrinks back down, both of his hands raised.

“Alright, I’m sitting! Geez, you could kill someone with that look!” 

The gadgeteer throws him a smug look before kneeling to the ground. Slowly, he picks up his brother’s right foot to examine it. The area around the ankle is swollen and discolored. When one of the fox’s fingers grazes against the injury, the speedster immediately lets out a hiss. Tails’ head snaps up, hands quickly pulling back.

“Sorry. Are you okay?”

Upon seeing Tails’ apologetic expression, the hedgehog nods his head. The child gives him a soft smile.

“Okay. It’s not too bad, but I’ll need to splint it.” Tails announces, carefully lowering the speedster’s foot.

Sonic simply crosses his arms and groans in response. _“‘Fraid you were gonna say that…”_ he mutters, looking aside.

“What was that?”

_“Nothing!”_

With a heavy sigh, the younger of the two males rises to his feet. “How’s your head?” He asks, voice quieter. The hedgehog pauses before answering.

“Fine.”

“Uh-huh. Any headache or dizziness?”

“No.”

Tails narrows his eyes before letting out a sigh. “While a small part of me doubts all of your answers, I’m going to assume you’re telling the truth considering your past experiences with falling from large heights. Still, no more running for you today.” 

Jade eyes widen, swiftly snapping to look forward. “ _What?_ C’mon, you can’t be serious!”

The two-tailed fox levels another death stare at his brother. Sonic pouts, both of his ears flopping down. “Tails…”.

“No.”

_“Please?”_

“ _No!_ And don’t even give me that look! You know those eyes don’t work on me.”

At the fox’s words, Sonic mumbles something unintelligible and bows his head, an absolutely dejected expression on his features. The gadgeteer lets out a quiet snort after seeing the world savior’s face. 

“What’s so funny?” Sonic asks, still pouting. His ears drop down even further, adding to the hilarity of this whole situation. Tails has to keep himself from breaking out into full laughter. The concept of Sonic the Hedgehog, the 'coolest and fastest dude with a ‘tude', making a sad puppy face is just _wonderful_. While he knows about and even uses the little begging puppy eyes, he probably has no idea what face he’s making now. Still, it is nice to see that he’s getting more comfortable with his instincts.

“C’mon, you big puppy,” Tails teases, smirking good-naturedly. “Let’s get you into a better position so you can elevate that foot.”

The hedgehog rolls his eyes but he accepts the presented hand and allows himself to be helped up. Two minutes later, he’s lying on the sectional, eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. After fifteen seconds, he rolls onto his left side, ignoring the protests of the more responsible sibling.

“Chill, Tails,” Sonic responds, waving a hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’m not putting any weight on it.”

The fox huffs, once again annoyed by his older brother’s antics. Ducking into the kitchen, he grabs an ice pack from the freezer and offers it to the speedster. Sonic studies the frozen object with a bored expression before placing it on his injured ankle.

“Sometimes, I really wonder…” Tails comments before walking away. The hedgehog flashes him a playful grin. Suddenly, the doorbell rings. 

Tails pointedly ignores the confusion on the speedster’s face as goes to open the door. He smiles almost instantly upon realizing who the visitor is.

“Thanks again for getting all of this on such short notice. Please, come in!”

The fox leads the guest into the apartment, towards the living room. Immediately, blue ears jerk straight up.

“Amy? What are you doing here?” Sonic exclaims. His gaze flickers to Tails, wordlessly yelling _‘why is she here, Miles’_. The child throws him an annoyed look before explaining.

“Amy was kind enough to get some supplies for me to splint your leg. Since I can’t trust you to sit still long enough for me to go to the store.”

The pink hedgehog giggles. "Nice to see you too, Sonic," she teases.

Sonic’s only response to grin innocently, his fangs making the action even more endearing. Tails sighs again, his two namesakes swishing behind him as he goes to grab some scissors, leaving the two hedgehogs alone in the space. The older of the two closes his eyes, folding his hands behind his head and switching to lay on his back again.

Amy sits down on the peninsula of the sofa, near Sonic’s head. She folds her hands in her lap, smoothing down her skirt, as she casually scans the room. Eventually, she lowers her gaze to look down at the planet’s savior. Her eyes widen when they land on his swollen ankle.

“Sonic, what were you doing?” She asks, concerned. “Your ankle’s all swollen, and there’s a bunch of twigs and leaves stuck in your quills.”

The teenager in question opens one eye. 

“Went for a jog through Windy Valley. Got hit by a piece of debris and fell against the cliff face.”

Mint eyes widen even further. “And you ran back here afterwards?”

“Yep,” the hero replies, popping the word. He lifts one of his hands and plucks a blade of grass from his quills, an unaffected expression on his face. “It’s not that far away.”

Amy’s hands ball into fists. “ _Sonic!_ You could have… You can’t just… _Argh_ , I _can’t_ believe you sometimes!” The girl yells. If he wasn’t already injured, she might just hit him with her hammer. She knows he pulls crazy, adrenaline-fueled stunts all the time, but that was just being plain stupid. 

“ _Relax,_ Ames. Except for my ankle, I’m fine.” 

Sonic winks and throws her one of his trademark grins, causing Amy’s muzzle to turn the same color of her quills. She lets out a huff and shakes her head rapidly before turning back to look at the boy. Ooh, he makes her so flustered sometimes!

“Alright, daredevil, sit up, please,” Amy orders. Sonic blinks at her. “Come on!” She reiterates, this time a touch more aggressive. Despite his visible confusion, the speedster complies. The pink hedgehog scoots behind him on the sofa, and without saying a word, she begins combing her fingers through the quills on his back.

Sonic flinches. “What are you _doing?”_ He questions, whirling to face her. Amy spins him back around without missing a beat.

“I’m getting the dirt out of your quills. Since you clearly _can’t_ be trusted to take care of yourself, it seems.” The girl answers, continuing in her ministrations. She pauses to remove some leaves from his quills before carrying on.

Immediately, a scarlet blush begins to swiftly spread across Sonic’s muzzle. “This is crazy. You don’t need to…”.

Whatever words the speedster is about to say next are cut off when Amy’s hands rub against his shoulders. The blue hedgehog shudders before relaxing into her touch, an expression of pure happiness on his face. There’s that strange, warm feeling fluttering inside his chest again that he doesn’t really understand.

“There we go…” Amy comments softly, removing one last twig. “All done with this area.” 

Switching her focus to Sonic’s head, the girl continues to tidy up his quills. She’s about halfway through when a voice interrupts her.

“Uh, Amy? What are you _doing?_ ” The pink hedgehog turns at the sound of her name.

Tails ambles into the living room, his face twisted in confusion. Amy blushes.

“Sorry! I noticed all the dirt in Sonic’s quills, and I had to help him.” The girl points to the pile of detritus beside her before gesturing to Sonic. “Look how happy and relaxed he is! You wouldn’t want to bother him, would you, Tails?” She asks, batting her eyelashes. The child prodigy follows Amy’s hands to his brother’s face. Sonic is slumped against the girl, eyes closed and his ears laid back. 

The fox shakes his head, an amused smile forming on his face. He moves towards the other end of the sofa. “Let me splint his leg at least.” 

Carefully, Tails places the ice pack aside and starts to gently set the splint in place. Sonic doesn’t react at all, which draws a quiet chuckle from the fox. He adjusts the splint one final time before pulling his hands back.

“I think you broke him,” Tails comments with a grin. The blue hedgehog has completely succumbed to his wolf side at this point, melted into putty after all of this petting.

A playful light twinkles in Amy’s eyes as she resumes her work. “Well, he needed this. And if it keeps him off that ankle, that’s a win-win for all of us.”

The room falls into a comfortable silence after she speaks. Then the sound of dull thudding fills the air, and both Amy and Tails look down in surprise to see Sonic’s short, stubby, little tail thumping happily against the fabric.

“Hey, Tails?” Amy ventures, after a moment. She pauses in her ministrations. There’s a touch of reluctance in her words, as if she doesn’t want to continue. “He’s doing okay with this, right?

It takes a moment for Tails to understand her question. _“He’s… Um…”_ the fox starts, sitting down on the chair nearby. He scratches the back of his head. This is going to be _fun_ , especially so considering that the subject and person asking the question.

“Yes?”

“Well, he’s been getting more comfortable with them. Enough that he doesn’t mind them slipping out from time to time. But…”.

“But what, Tails?”

The fox glances down, nervousness creeping into his behavior. “He’s still a little anxious about talking about them. And doing them around other people.” Especially _you_ , but _I_ never said that.

Amy blinks. _“Oh,”_ she simply says, drawing her hands back. She shrinks down, attempting to put some distance between her and Sonic. In her endeavor to give the speedster some space, she forgets just how relaxed he is. As soon as she shifts back, Sonic falls onto his back, the surface that he was leaning against abruptly gone. 

Sonic’s eyes fly open, the spell broken. His mind reviews his last memories, trying to recall what happened in his instinct-induced fogginess. Happiness. The fluttering feeling. Amy’s fingers running through his quills. _Oh shhhh…_

Suddenly, the blue hedgehog becomes aware of a thudding sound behind him. It takes him less than a millisecond to recognize it. 

Immediately, jade eyes shrink to pinpoints. Sonic scrambles back, only being stopped by his immobilized ankle. He falls down into an awkward position on the sofa. Tails shouts his name, concern coloring the word.

“ _A-Amy! Tails!_ Uh, _hey!”_ Sonic greets, pasting a grin on his face. He forces himself to ignore his wagging tail, the dirty traitor. Both of his friends give him strange looks, throwing his head into a mess of embarrassment and nervousness. A small whimper escapes from his mouth, and he bites his tongue to silent it, momentarily forgetting about his fangs. Oh, that was _not_ a good idea.

“Sonic?” Tails asks, moving towards his brother. Before he can get closer however, a hand suddenly blocks his path. The fox gives a puzzled look but stops in place.

Slowly, Amy lifts both hands and presents them to Sonic, palms facing up. The speedster’s breath hitches, and he curls in slightly. Upon seeing the reaction, Tails steps closer to the sofa again. This time, Amy’s eyes whip up and level a hard stare at the child. Please let _me_ handle this.

Tails studies the situation for another moment, uncertainty flickering in his cerulean irises. Then gradually, he backs away, stepping into the hall. Mint eyes watch him go before returning to the other side of the sofa.

“Sonic, look at me.” Amy utters, her voice soft and light. The blue hedgehog doesn’t react at first, gaze flickering down the hall. His instincts and pride are yelling two different things, and he's floundering to unravel the two. Undeterred, the girl calls his name again, and succeeds in getting his attention. Jade irises rise to meet mint-colored ones. 

Amy smiles at him, nothing but warmth in her expression. The question of _‘Can I come closer?’_ dances wordlessly in her eyes, and Sonic gives a tiny nod, his body relaxing a bit. Lowering her hands, the pink hedgehog crawls across the sofa. The speedster observes her warily, unsure but not backing away this time. One of his ears flops to the side, cautiously curious. 

Slowly—so that he can clearly see it—Amy closes the gap between her and her hero. “It’s okay,” she reassures gently. Her fingers brush lightly against his arm before pulling back. “You don’t need to be embarrassed about it.”

Sonic blinks at her, still hesitant. A beat passes and then a playful sparkle suddenly appears in Amy’s eyes.

“You know what?” She asks, grinning. “I think it’s fitting. You’re loyal, brave, proud, and strong. All things associated with wolves, and reasons why I love you. Maybe you’ve started expressing them differently, but it’s still you. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

The cloying sweetness of Amy’s words seems to be effective in dispelling the tangle of emotions inside the speedster’s head. His eyes dart away sharply again, though this time, there is an amused kind of annoyance and acceptance in his sheepish grin. He scratches a finger along the side of his muzzle.

_"Heh,"_ he simply says, his face feeling warm all over again.

A silence, delicate and light like the wisps on a dandelion, falls over the room. Then abruptly, without warning, two arms wrap around him, squeezing him tight.

_“Wha-!?”_ He exclaims, eyes widening and whipping down to look. At once, he discovers Amy nestled into her usual spot against his chest, a contented smile on her face.

_“Shhh…”_ she whispers, nuzzling against him. _“It’s okay.”_

A familiar feeling flutters inside Sonic’s chest again, and this time, he voluntarily leans into it. Almost instantly, his tail starts wagging again, but slower and less wild than before. He shifts into a more comfortable position before placing a hand on Amy’s head. 

So much of this is new to him. Letting go of his instincts from time to time. Making jokes about this and not laughing in that nervous, empty kind of way. Amy’s quieter and more restrained demeanor. But as he sits there on the sofa, a hand gently combing through pink quills, he realizes that not everything has changed. Joking with Tails, bickering with Knuckles, trashing Eggman’s robots. And Amy’s sometimes annoying but always constant presence in his life. Little Red and her wolf. 

The world savior smiles softly, his fangs just barely peeking out from under his lips.

Familiar. Yeah. Okay.

In the fragile silence of the living room, his tail thumping on the sofa, Sonic leans down and gives Amy’s forehead a small lick. While he’d later vehemently deny ever doing the action, right now it was something that both parts of him felt happy to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna preface this with the fact that I had no intentions of adding to this. But sometimes an idea drop-kicks you in the face and (Sonic) forces you to write. So here's what is probably the most indulgent thing I've written. Sonamy is one of my guilty pleasures. 
> 
> Amy's actions near the end (where she shows her hands to Sonic and moves slowly towards him) are supposed to be reminiscent of what someone would do to calm a skittish dog. His sense of shame is telling him that this is wrong while his instincts are telling him that this is okay. Amy meets him in the middle, gently defusing his instincts while being bold enough to appeal to his proud personality. She doesn't care how he looks or if he does weird things, she still loves him.
> 
> If you're wondering about Tails, I like to imagine that he's sitting in his room spying on the two lovebirds through a hidden camera. He saves the video in his Sonic blackmail box.


End file.
